Methods, systems and devices for retail website linking and image merging

ABSTRACT

An e-commerce method involves on-line viewing of a first article through a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. A particular application of the invention is directed to on-line apparel shopping involving a color matching scheme using color codes provided with images to be merged. For example, on-line viewing of one article, such as clothing, on another structure, includes creating an item from image-data corresponding to a colored article selected by an on-line viewer from an on-line viewer site with an image of a colored structure selected by the on-line viewer, and indicating whether the colored article and the colored structure satisfy a color-matching criterion.

RELATED PATENTS DOCUMENTS

This patent document is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/531,102 filed on Mar. 17, 2000, whichclaims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/167,493 filed Nov. 24, 1999, and of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/159,476 filed Oct. 14, 1999, which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to e-commerce and, morespecifically, to use of linked web servers sites for on-line shopping.

BACKGROUND

The consumer in today's market is limited to a particular retailer's ordepartment store's inventory, selection and styles. Traditionally, aconsumer shops for items from different stores with the anticipation andhope that the items will coordinate. Alternatively, a consumer will waitfor an opportunity to try on all the different items purchased andreturn those items that do not coordinate. Recent technological advanceshave attempted to enhance the shopping ability through the use ofe-commerce, sometimes referred to as “online buying” or “onlineshopping.”

There are differences inherent between “online buying” and “onlineshopping” in that current e-commerce transactions are based on theindividual buying goods or services online that they have either decidedto buy prior to logging on to the internet or find as a result ofbargain hunting on the internet. There is very little, if any, trueshopping on the internet. Most women define shopping as an “experience”“fun” “exciting” and the like. True shopping is going to a mall ordepartment store with the intention of buying yet to be determined goodsor services. Few consumers are getting on the internet with the samemindset that they have before they physically go shopping. It is thedifference between logging onto the internet to buy an additional pairof Levi's Jeans and going shopping and then coming home with 2 pairs ofLevi's Jeans, a belt, 2 sweaters and 2 shirts.

A particular problem that arises in connection with shoppingelectronically concerns color matching. Unlike true shopping where thebuying experience involves the ability of the user to color-matcharticles based on actual appearances, the colors of the articles aremischaracterized when displayed for the shopper over a computerterminal. This alteration is largely due to miscalibrations at both theinput (e.g., image capturing) and the output, for example, the displayterminal itself. Consequently, few consumers are comfortable colormatching items over the internet.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present invention is generally directed to a methodfor on-line viewing of articles that are color matched using acolor-identification standard. An example implementation of this aspectof the present invention involves on-line viewing of a first articlethrough a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. A colormatching scheme uses color codes provided with the images to be merged.In a more particular example, on-line viewing of one article, such asclothing, on another structure, includes creating an item fromimage-data corresponding to a colored article selected by an on-lineviewer from an on-line viewer site with an image of a colored structureselected by the on-line viewer, and indicating whether the coloredarticle and the colored structure satisfy a color-matching criterion.

Another particular application of the present invention involves anon-line viewer linked to the host-site and to a virtual closetmaintained by the host-site. The host-site selects a structure inresponse to a command received by the on-line viewer, and using thehost-site, the viewer is linked to the article-provider site and imagesare passed from that site for view by the on-line viewer. A selected oneof the articles is merged with the structure by forming an imageincluding representations of both the structure and the selectedarticle.

An optional feature allows each user a certain amount of storagecapacity, referred to as a “closet,” where the user can store differentitems from multiple stores as they move from store to store, each timebringing back different items to mix and match, coordinate and so on.This storage space allows the consumer to put items “on hold” for alimited period of time without purchasing them. Color codes are includedwith each article stored in the closet. This feature allows consumers toreturn at a later date and purchase these items with a full appreciationof their color coordination.

The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describeeach illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the presentinvention. The figures in the detailed description that follow moreparticularly exemplify these embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of thefollowing detailed description of various embodiments of the inventionin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a system for implementing thepresent system in accordance with one example embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example manner for implementing one aspectof the present invention.

While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternativeforms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in thedrawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood,however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to theparticular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is generally directed to a method and systeminvolving e-commerce over interconnected communication networks such asthose currently known as the Internet. The present invention isparticularly suited for conveniently bringing virtual apparel intocustomers' respective homes and permitting customers to try on theapparel before accepting/purchasing the apparel. While the presentinvention is not necessarily so limited, a better understanding of theinvention will be found by reading the detailed description andexemplary embodiments that follow.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of a method and system forimplementing the present system. The system includes a host applicationserver 101 including several example functional blocks. These blocksinclude a block 102 that merges two images A and B (e.g. correspondingto a personalized or generic article identified by the on-line shopper,and a foundation or structure image to be merged with the identifiedarticle). Another block 103 permits merging of images selected from A,B, and/or articles previously stored in a “closet,” depicted as block105. Another block 107 includes personalized images and an inventory ofgeneric images corresponding to the foundation or structure. A revenuegenerator block 109 provides fee generation from on-line shoppers whosubscribe to the host application server per on-line or off-lineagreement, and/or fee generation from retailers (or sellers) and otherssuch as magazine publishers desiring participation and benefit from thesystem of FIG. 1.

The on-line shopper uses a PC or intelligent black box 112 to access thehost application server 101. Through this access, the on-line shoppereither selects a generic structure from an inquiry of such structuresprovided by block 107 or provides a personalized image (for example, ascanned image of himself or of his house) to be used as the structure.Using the host application server 101, the on-line shopper is coupledthrough the web to a seller, depicted at block 114. Images of selectablearticles are communicated back to the on-line shopper over the web andthrough the host application server 101. The on-line shopper selects oneor more articles from at least one of the sellers for storage in thecloset 105, and/or for merging with the previously-selected structure.Similarly, the structure can be changed per a command from the on-lineshopper so as to merge the selected article(s) with differentstructures. In response, the host application server 101 processesimages corresponding to the article and structure and generates a newimage including representations of both the structure and the article.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an example process for implementing theexample system of FIG. 1, according to the present invention. Asdiscussed above, after accessing the host application server 201,optionally the host application server verifies registration/payment asis conventional with current on-line shopping as depicted at 201 a. Atblock 204 the structure or foundation is selected as discussed above,and at block 206 the link is made to the seller. At block 208 thearticle(s) is viewed by the on-line shopper and, optionally, a selectionof a color and/or size for the article is made. Next, the on-lineshopper selects the article as a candidate for storage in the closetand/or for merging with the structure.

At block 210 the on-line shopper instructs the host application serverto store the article in the closet by returning to block 204, merge withthe structure as depicted at block 212, or return to block 206 forlinking to the same seller or another seller for additional viewing.

From block 212 flow proceeds to block 214 where the new image is createdper the merger instruction.

Next, at block 216, the new image is sent for viewing to the on-lineshopper.

At block 218 the on-line shopper chooses one of multiple options. Eitherthe closet is accessed and the on-line shopper returns to block 204, oran election is made to purchase the article and/or other articles thatmay have been stored in the closet as depicted in block 220. From block220, flow proceeds to block 222 where the on-line shopper decides toreturn to block 204 or end the transaction.

Example articles can be: A) clothing; B) paint; C) furniture; D)glassware; E) landscaping; F) orthodontic and teeth ware; G) cabinetry;H) plastic-surgery type enhancements; I) car/person.

Example foundation for merger with corresponding article(s) can be: a)person, pet; b) house, cars, etc.; c) house, cars, office, etc.; d)kitchen, face; e) yard; f) mouth; g) rooms in office/house; h) person(chest, face, belly, etc.); I) person/car.

In another example embodiment according to the present invention, animportant advantage relating to color matching is achieved using acommonly-used color standard that covers sufficient color variations topermit various articles to be matched to one another. In one morespecific embodiment, an industry color-standardization scheme is used.Examples include: Exxel Color Match Guide (seehttp://sharones.com/prod013234.htm) and Color match Chart(http://www.csprings.com/aero_lettering/c_match.htm). More sophisticatedcolor standardization schemes include the above examples in combinationwith equipment specifically identifying a frequency range correspondingto the color of the article in question or the equipment approach byitself.

Example equipment of this type includes optics-based detectors adaptedto provide a measured (color) frequency in a given lightcondition/environment. For example, white light may be used along withselected background materials characterized within certain selectedranges of reflectivity. Other definitional parameters needed and/oruseful in connection therewith will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

In a particular application, the color frequencies measured for thearticles to be matched are reported and provided in the form of a tagthat is carried with the article, electronically for the web servershopping function and, optionally, as a supplemental hard-copy codedlabel (e.g., as part of or as a supplementation to the coding used on abar code label). In a more particular implementation involving this useas part of the bar code label, the conventional bar code scanners andbar code generators are modified and adapted to receive the colorfrequency of the article and to conveniently report the color frequencyin conjunction with the electronic shopping function and/or theconventional/reality shopping applications.

In yet another more specific embodiment, the closet of selected articles(as described for example in connection with block 105 of FIG. 1) iselectronically defined using a partial-data set corresponding to each ofthe closeted articles. In one application thereof, the partial-data setcomprises an outline definition of each of the articles along with thecolor frequency codes linked to the various sections of each article, asnecessary to fully define the article in terms of article shape andcolor. Further, the size of the article is also stored as part of thepartial-data set. Collectively, these various pieces advantageouslydefine all needed aspects of each article in the closet without havingto consume excessive amounts of memory and without requiring excessiveprocessing to recreate the article for view by the user.

The virtual closet discussed above in connection with FIG. 1 can be usedto permit the shopper to buy or hold (without buying) an article andsubsequently retrieving the article for matching to other articles interms of structure, size, color and other stylistic aspects. Inapplications concerned with limited memory bandwidth, the hostapplication can provide a maximum amount of storage space for eachshopper, with additional storage space being provided for a fee. Thesedata stored in such memory is limited to a fixed-period, e.g., onemonth, with extensions being provided for yet additional consideration,such as a monthly fee or purchases of items stored in the closet duringan immediately preceding period. This approach advantageously encouragesthe shoppers to revisit the host application repeatedly to access theirpersonalized virtual closet, and advantageously provides on-goingadvertising for (which is also optionally billed on a related, on-goingbasis to) the seller/retailers.

According to another aspect of the present invention, on-line shoppers(for example 112 of FIG. 1) are provided a number of selectable icons orother data permitting feedback from the host/server (for example 101 ofFIG. 1). Examples include: expert fashion advice (e.g., professionalconsultants employed by the retailers (for example sellers 114 of FIG.1), outside fashion consultants and/or employees of the entity providingthe host application (101 of FIG. 1); on-line offers from the sellers(discounts, sales, etc.); updates on up-coming styles, colors, the mostrecent and hottest fashions. Each of these various offerings isoptionally categorized for convenient selection by the shopper/user, forexample, by category, style, activities, retailers. Advantageously, thisapplication permits the host application to provide the sellers uniquedemographic information pertaining to particular customers' interests,selection trends and other data useful in attracting the shoppers to theretailers.

For convenience to the shoppers, a feedback icon can be used to providea “favorite retailers” list to be defined by each shopper. When theshopper logs onto the host application, any of these favorite retailerscan be immediately linked to for various uses. Examples include:reviewing closeted items and making changes thereto for a particularretailer, checking sales at that particular retailer and/or continuingto shop at a particular retailer without being required to return to thehost application web site. Further, as a shopper links from retailer toretailer (the “Favorites”), a “shopping basket” can be selected andfilled as the shopper accesses the articles

According to another important aspect of the present invention, the hostapplication includes a search engine that searches selected, or all,participating sellers/retailers for particular merchandise, asidentified by the on-line shopper. In one implementation, this serviceis provided to the shopper using a selectable icon or other feedbackdata as discussed above. At this point, the host application can: listall such retailers and allow the shopper to link to their web site;virtually pull the item from the respective web sites and allow theshopper to “try on” the article or store it in the closet (with avariation which optionally permits the shopper to change the size andcolor); and/or a combination of these approaches.

Implementation of the merging function can be accomplished using one ormore of a variety of currently-available methods. Examples of suchmethods include those used in connection with web sites:www.virtualmakeover.com and www.segasoft.com/customer/index.html. Otherexample implementations are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No.5,930,769 entitled, “System and Method for Fashion Shopping.” Varioustypes of software and hardware can be used to implement each aspect ofthe system and method described.

As noted above, the present invention is applicable to a number oftechniques for merging various types of structures, or foundations, withone or more corresponding articles. The present invention should not beconsidered limited to the particular examples described above, butrather should be understood to cover all aspects of the invention asfairly set out in the attached claims. For example, the presentinvention could be characterized as covering one or more of the abovecharacterized features. Accordingly, various modifications, equivalentprocesses, as well as numerous structures to which the present inventionmay be applicable will be readily apparent to the skilled artisan uponreview of the present specification.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-operated method implemented by aprogrammable server that executes instructions to cause the programmableserver to perform operations, comprising: processing softwareinstructions to implement steps of providing a host application websitethat displays viewable articles offered by a plurality of sellers;linking, in response to an input received from an on-line shopper, to afirst seller website; while linked to the first seller website, allowingfor one or more articles to be selected; linking, in response to aninput selection received from the on-line shopper while the on-lineshopper is linked to the first seller website, to a second sellerwebsite; while linked to the second seller website, allowing for one ormore articles to be selected; returning, in response to an inputreceived from the on-line shopper, to the host application website; inresponse to the selection of articles, accessing article image data forat least one of the selected articles; accessing structure image datafor a structure; and merging the structure image data and the articleimage data to generate a merged image data for displaying the at leastone of the selected articles and the structure; outputting the mergedimage for the on-line shopper; and storing the article image data forthe at least one of the selected articles in a virtual closet for accessby the on-line shopper and allocating a limited amount of storage in thevirtual closet for the on-line shopper.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the operation of processing software instructions is furtherimplemented to perform the operations of: retrieving a list of favoritesellers for the on-line shopper; providing icons for the on-line shopperto select one or more of the favorite sellers; and allowing the on-lineshopper to link between seller websites of the favorite sellers withoutreturning to the host application website.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the operation of processing software instructions is furtherimplemented to perform the operations of: providing the on-line shopperwith one or more icons that identify the at least one of the selectedarticles in the virtual closet; retrieving the stored article image datafor at least one of the selected articles in the virtual closet inresponse to the on-line shopper selecting at least one of the icons; andproviding the retrieved article image data to the on-line shopper. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein the operation of processing softwareinstructions is further implemented to perform the operations of:providing the on-line shopper with options for changing the appearanceof the article image data for at the least one of the selected articles;modifying the article image data in response to input received from theon-line shopper indicating a change in the appearance of the articleimage data; and providing the modified article image data to the on-lineshopper.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation of processingsoftware instructions is further implemented to perform the operationsof: categorizing the selected articles according to groups defined atleast one of style, activities and sellers; and providing thecategorized articles to the on-line shopper configured in a viewableformat that differentiates the defined groups.
 6. The method of claim 2,wherein the operation of processing software instructions is furtherimplemented to perform the operation of generating fees for sellersbased upon an amount of storage of article image data for articlesoffered by the sellers.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the operationof processing software instructions is further implemented to performthe operation of uploading, from the on-line shopper, image data for thestructure.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includesoperations of: accessing another article image data for another one ofthe selected articles, and merging the accessed image data for both ofthe articles with the structure, wherein the accessed image dataincludes data for an article from the first seller website and data foran article from the second seller website.